Fish Spotter Makes Sure He’s Spotted

In his job as a fish spotter, pilot Jeff Luboff of Ventura, California, routinely flies many miles over open water in his single-engine Citabria. One late summer morning he was about 10 miles off the California coast when every pilot’s nightmare was realized: the engine slowly lost power and after a catastrophic bang, it failed to support altitude. Luboff was on the radio immediately with Los Angeles Air Traffic Control giving his location and situation.

Keeping a cool head, he ditched the crippled plane into the ocean. Luboff was able to scramble out within 10 seconds before the plane sank. Once clear of the plane and treading water, Luboff, 48, followed procedure and activated his AquaFix™ 406 P-EPIRB, which doubled as part of his survival gear whenever he flew or fished.

Luboff had the AquaFix™ around his neck and tucked into his shirt. He said its small size made it easy to keep it on his person where it was at the ready. He then put on his one-piece survival suit with heat-retaining booties, gloves and hood, and two flotation devices. While awaiting rescue, he also set off flares.

Within minutes, an unidentified aircraft spotted him and remained on scene until rescuers arrived.

LTjg Jeffrey Shoup, SARSAT Operations Support Officer, U.S. NOAA Corps, said he was pleased with the rescue. “From our point of view, the system worked perfectly. The pilot followed the correct procedure. He used his radio as the first means of communication and then he pushed the S.O.S. (EPIRB) button as a back-up system. If the radio wasn’t working, then the EPIRB signal would have set the rescue in motion.”

Today, Luboff is flying again with his tried-and-true AquaFix™.

Learn more about how these ACR Beacons work!